Rotando scored 29 points, leading Team Shore past Sea View Jeep of Ocean 92-82 in a Jersey Mike's Jersey Shore Basketball League game at Wall High School.

"I'm good friends with Mike," Cronin said. "My grandson, Matthew McMullen, plays for Seaview. They're good buddies. Mike is a great kid, a wonderful kid."

Rotando, a former Point Pleasant Beach player, put Team Shore in front to stay, 76-75, on a jumper with 6:28 left in the fourth quarter. A Rotando layup with 4:19 to go put Team Shore ahead 83-76. Another Rotando layup with 1:44 left staked Team Shore to an 89-80 lead.

Rotando netted two free throws with 53 seconds to play to send Team Shore in front 91-82. Rotando capped the scoring with a free throw with 42 seconds remaining. He scored nine fourth-quarter points.

The former Garnet Gulls player erupted for 20 first-half points, powering Team Shore to a 49-45 lead. Rotando buried seven of eight shots from the field, including four of four from beyond the arc, in the opening 20 minutes.

"I played well in the first half," the 6-foot-1, 185-pounder said. "When I hit that jumper to put us ahead for good, I needed to make a play. It kind of lifted us a little bit. I did not have a good third quarter (he failed to score)."

Rotando will be a junior guard on the Georgian Court University men's team this winter. The marketing major sat out the 2013-14 season under NCAA transfer rules. He had attended Bloomfield College.

"My role during the winter was to lead the team in practice, be helpful and push the other guys in practice," he said. "I played two years for Bloomfield, but I did not really like the school. I wanted to be closer to home. I am a local kid."

Rotando hopes to take a more active role this season for the Lions.

"I score in bunches," he said. "When I am not scoring, I have to kick the ball to my teammates. I have to facilitate. In this league, I am playing against the best players. The competition in this league is better than what I will see in my conference (the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference). If I can score here, I can score in college."

Team Shore's Jordan Wejnert, another ex-Point Pleasant Beach player, added 19 points, including 11 in the second half.

Wejnert, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound forward, averaged 19.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season for the first-year Lions (2-24). He was fourth in scoring in the CACC and first on the team. Wejnert, who scored the initial regular-season points in the team's history, was named the GCU Men's Athlete of the Year. He was named the club's Most Valuable Player.

The Lions began competing in men's sports last season. The school was founded as Georgian Court College in 1908 by the Sisters of Mercy.

"It was exciting to score them," the communications major said. "We had a tough year, but it was good to be a part of something for the first time."

Wejnert said he hopes to be an improved player for the Lions.

"As players, we always have weaknesses," he said. "There is better competition in this league. I am working on my outside game. This league enables me to test myself during the summer. It's tough to test yourself in the summer by playing with your friends in a gym. Playing here helps me avoid bad habits. At GCU, I get a lot of my points in the post."

Wejnert played two years at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County before putting on the Lions' uniform.

"I left because of a coaching change," he said. "The new coach brought in new guys. He did not want to play the guys the previous coach brought in. A couple of guys were kicked off the team. It was not a good situation."